Staff at a coastal college are preparing for a series of tough fitness challenges at home over the half term holidays.
Eight members of staff at East Coast College have pledged to cover 668 miles from Lowestoft to Mount Snowdon and back again as they aim to inspire students and raise money for local foodbanks in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth as part of an ongoing appeal.
The team, which is made up of managers and lecturers from sport and uniformed public services, will each be completing anything from three to 30 miles a day from Monday, May 25 to Sunday, May 31.
This will include swimming, running, rowing and cycling, with the college’s chief executive Stuart Rimmer joining in for the final leg of the challenge with a 6.2-mile run on the final day of half term.
The trip to Mount Snowdon is usually completed by uniformed public services students as part of their practical assessment in outdoor activities and land navigation.
Twenty-three Level 3 students were due to travel to Wales in May to complete the climb, however the expedition was put on hold due to the continuing coronavirus crisis.
That’s when Nicola Pollard, deputy curriculum manager for health and sports sciences and her team, came up with the idea as a way to inspire their students and link up with the college’s foodbank fundraising campaign to encourage donations in support of their challenge.
She said: “All tutors and managers within the sport and UPS team at East Coast College encourage students to embrace every challenging opportunity, try the best they possibly can throughout a series of industry related tasks and make the most out of their experience in education.
“We have all collectively been affected physically, mentally and emotionally throughout this difficult time, therefore, we wanted to prove that even outside of normal working hours and under strict guidelines – we will continue to embrace and showcase every opportunity, continue to help inspire others and aim to complete a safe, yet challenging seven-day multi-discipline adventure for our community.”
Staff completing the challenge range in ages from 20 to 62 and each person has been given a different amount of miles to complete based on their capabilities and equipment.
Nicola, who was due to be representing Great Britain Age-Group Aquathlon Team in the European Championships in Austria in June, will be completing a total of 211.25 miles throughout the week along with lecturer Chris Wright.
Other staff be covering 21 miles up to 105 miles across the week.
To support their challenge and the college’s campaign to raise £2,000 for the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Foodbanks to keep them operating during this challenging time, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/eastcoastcollege
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